North Creek church takes worship into nature

The Rev. Lucy Harris, pastor of the Adirondack Church Without Walls is shown with Tate Maverick Rumble (left in photo) and Elyse Farnsworth at a church event.

NORTH CREEK — Rev. Lucy Harris said she was attending an El Salvador church that had only one wall when she became aware that everything outside was coming inside: dogs, birds and the sounds of the city.

“I thought, ‘This is what the kingdom is like. People are a part whether they know it or not,’” Harris said.

She liked the idea of a church service being a part of the community, but rather than invite the community in, she decided to stake the church out into the community, and the concept of the Adirondack Church Without Walls (ADK ChurchWoW) was born.

Part of a “1,001 New Worshipping Communities” initiative of the Presbyterian Church (USA), Harris said the ADK ChurchWoW is an alternative to the traditional church, which has worshippers being taught, but otherwise uninvolved.

“People find they can take a part in leading the service. For some, the more traditional church seems very head-trippy, over your head, dry, not engaging. We are trying to creative worship experiences where everyone there feels engaged in what is going on,” Harris said.

Harris said there are other people who might feel disengaged, if not disinvited by a traditional church. An example is a family with a son who has autism. She said if their son feels stressed by the group and vocalizes it, they can move 10 or 15 feet away and give him space. She said the ADK ChurchWoW has had visitors with psycho or social anxieties, or people with cognitive limitations.

“I have found a lot of people who have a background where, in their experience with church, they had a sense where the church is very exclusive, whether about sexual orientation, what you believe…” Harris said. “I have met some people who are not sure they want to sign-on to a certain doctrine.”

Harris said she talks to people who have serious questions and doubts, and she believes these people can teach her the most.

“In attempting to answer their questions, it is helping me to understand what I believe,” she said.

Harris said the “one-sided feeling of traditional churches” is off-putting, for some, but especially for millennials. She said many in their 20s and 30s are put off by notions from what you have to wear to church, to how services go, or issues church has supported or not supported.

Harris said she does a reading from the Bible, then she follows it with a reading from another sources, whether it be poetry from Khalil Gibran or an essay from Chief Joseph on caring for the land. She said she will reflect on those readings for a minute and a half to two minutes and encourage people to share thoughts or questions.

“It’s more organic and less of me standing up front leading a congregation. It’s more of a community experience,” Harris said.

The readings and sharing is followed by corporate prayer. Harris said she tries to incorporate multisensory stimulus for those with different learning styles, sometimes using drums, blowing bubbles to represent prayers. She said being surrounded by wind, the sun, birds and animals adds to the sensory element.

ADK ChurchWoW meets once per month, and is next meeting on July 9 at 5 p.m., at the Ski Bowl in North Creek. The theme will be “A Celebration of Freedom.”